Reviews by eclaycamp:

I’ve been hanging onto this one for awhile, and with the temperatures in the triple digits all day it felt like today would be a perfect day to bust out a Helles, even if it’s of the imperial variety.

The cork pops with a nice sound, and the beer pours quite clear. I’m using a flared lip pilsner glass for this affair. The color is actually darker than I expected, as it comes across as more of a deeper gold than that of a light straw. Classic pillowy head that offers nice lacing and sticks around for days.

The beer has a nice bready characteristic followed by crisp lager sourdough character. It comes across as somewhat muted.

The first taste gives a sense of lively carbonation. Mouthfeel is light and refreshing. You just start to get a sense of the grainy malt character when alcohol takes over. There’s also some alcohol warming in the finish, along with some alcohol character. That’s one of the problems with this style of beer – be it imperial pils, helles, or whatever – there’s just no where for the alcohol to go, so it feels in some respects like a regular beer spiked with vodka. That’s not to say this beer isn’t well crafted – it is – but I’m just not the biggest fan of the imperial style when it comes to lighter beers. I do like the initial impression that this beer gives. There’s a wonderful grainy malt flavor that shines through. Unfortunately, for me anyway, it’s just obliterated by the alcohol in the finish. The more you drink it the less pronounced the alcohol character is, as it’s taken over by a sort of honey malt sweetness that I suspect is a byproduct of the high alcohol levels – alcohol sweetness in other words.

Overall this is a very nice beer and a rather unique take on the Helles style. It’s crisp and clean, though the heavy alcohol profile may not be for everyone. (1,855 characters)

More User Reviews:

Poured into a 1/2 liter stein a rich clear copper/bronze with a large fluffy white head atop that turned nto a creamy mass as it settled slowly.Aromas were pretty clean with floral and spicy hop dominating,light toastiness and caramel are there but they are pretty faint.Lighter feel for the style and pretty clean on the palate,light caramel malt and a bit of sweet dough with a hefty drying,spicy finish.Not true to form, its to hopped up wich I dont mind,but it just seems to lack a little heft in my opinion. (512 characters)

Pours a brilliant deep golden color with a two finger head of creamy white foam that has some nice staying power! Good active carbonation - the cork could have easily hit the ceiling when I opened this one. Aromas of crisp bready, toasted malts along with a honey glaze. Floral and herbal hop accents with a bit of spiciness. Semi-sweet, fresh and vibrant.

First sip brings smooth, crisp toasted maltiness with a honeyed bread twist. A slight sweetness along with floral, herbal hops adding a kiss of bitterness. Touch of spiciness. Smooth and easy drinking brew!

Mouthfeel is smooth and crisp with good carbonation. A little slick on the palate but it works well. Overall, a solid amped up helles bock and I wouldn't have expected anything less. The 30th anniversary series has been great and I'm looking forward to the black barleywine next. Cheers to Sierra Nevada! (871 characters)

750ml bottle in a pilsner glass.Copper color, nice thick tan head that persisted well.An earthy aroma, sweet, floral.Taste was also on the earthy side, some sweet caramel, and a bite of hops at the end.Fairly substantial, a beer to savor, and one I will try again. (268 characters)

Beautiful pour into a tulip forms an abundant golden head with nice lace as the head dissipates.Cloudy golden/amber in appearance. Sweet with a hint of hoppy citrus at the finish. Very tasty. Cloys slightly by the end. Would not make a good session beer for that reason in my opinion. (286 characters)

750ml bottle. Pours a slightly hazy orange amber with a big creamy white head that retains well and laces the glass.

The aroma is pretty subdued - some toasted malt and some vegetables and nitro(?). Kind of smells like a bad cream ale.

The flavor is toasted malts with some a good amount of bitterness that is slightly metallic and some noticeable alcohol. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a watery texture.

Overall, I did not care for this. It tastes like an imperial cream ale to me. It's watery, harshly bitter and alcoholic with very little redeeming about it. Not nearly as good as the Fritz and Ken. (611 characters)

The beer pours a yellow-orange color with a white head. The aroma is wheat with some grassy hops mixed in. The flavor is similar. I get wheat, grain, grassy hops, toffee malt and some citrus notes. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. A pretty good beer, but not quite as good as I was expecting for a 30th Anniversary special release. (386 characters)

Taste: Sweet and relatively mellow apple and toasted malt upfront. Then it turns more bitter and metallic at the end with floral noble hops. Ending seems harsh at first, but mellows as it warms/sits in the glass.

Pours a light golden amber with a small white head that slowly fades. Nose is nice, light and floral. There's a hint of vinegar but it's nice.

Taste is quite interesting, it's light, sweet and malty with a touch of booze but it's not too much. The carbonation is nice and refreshing without being over the top it. Quite an easy drinking odd style. (404 characters)

750 ml bottle, caged and corked. A huge white head blooms over the rim of a tulip, and hang around awhile before dissipating without leaving much lace. It's a clear copper color with little bubble zipping to the surface.

The aroma is rather mild, malt and grain dominate, just a slight note of dark fruit.

Very malty, somewhat sweet and grainy, a bit of cherry sweetness, and you get just a hint of sulfur and citric hop characteristics. You get elements of both styles, not as much malt as a maibock, and It's a pretty successful marriage.

It demonstrates some life on the tongue, and the hops cut the sweetness before growing cloying on the tongue--and it finishes very nicely and balances out ultimately.

Still a bit much of the dark fruit to be highly drinkable for me, but a solid effort for sure. (807 characters)

A: Poured into my SA perfect pint, this bock pours a murky straw color with a billowing white capped head that is quickly to succeed to almost nothing.

S: At first pour the aroma is bold and sweet like honey. Very natural aroma like biscuit mixed with caramel malt.

T: The flavor is again like caramel covered biscuits. Very natural and bready. Nothing too deep, and a little thin in body and flavor.

MF: Mouthfeel is on the thin side. This beer would have benefited something a little bigger.

Overall, my least favorite of the 30's, but still a good beer. There isn't much you can do with a bock to satisfy the beer geek, and if you do Weihenstephaner and Ayinger have you beat! (683 characters)

I had this during beer week at Jose Pistolas and just found the notes in my notebook.

This beer was definitely a disappointment for me. I did not expect to see this on tap, but was very excited to see it. It was described on the beer list as a The beer looked nice with a deep golden hue and a tuft of downy foam. The smell was very malty of toasted sweet bread, like a baking loaf of brioche, but it did not have the richness that I was expecting. The taste was similarly lacking depth and complexity, I could taste the kilned German malts, but it did not have the full flavor I was hoping for. The toasty malts dominated the beer with a bit of spicy hops and some alcohol in the end. The beer though was well made, even if I do not consider it a favorite. (758 characters)

A perfect pop out the caged & corked bottle. Excellent carbonation (which held throughout the entire bottle) and color, orange to brown, which again, remained vibrant and attractive throughout. Aroma had a twinge of Euro sweetness to it.

Pepper, Euro Hops (saaz/tettenang?) seemed to rock the party that rocks the body. Drank so smooth, could've believed this was 5% alcohol. Was so effortlessly light on the palate throughout, just some tangy pepperish hops, so easy to drink. It might not be for newbies or flipside contrarian curmudgeon snobbies, but it is a blast for everyone in between.

Very refreshing, had this laying around the pool and previously, down by a river (not in a van). I remember drinking Pale Bock this time of year a decade or so ago . . . this really brings you back, good for warm, but not hot (well maybe?) weather. Enjoy this one while it's available. Can't wait for the next two. About time this beer got an American kick in the ass. Enough whining has been listened to from detractors regarding this style for the last decade in my experience. (1,075 characters)

Poured into a Addison Oktoberfest 1.5L Mug a pale yellow with a very thick white head. Great retention and decent lacing down the mug. I'm afraid I can't get much of the nose, but my allergies have been bugging me lately. I think I'm finding some hop notes in there, but my nose is weak. The taste has a great deal of flavors going on. There is a light amount of malt sweetness with some spices mixed in there. There is a nice hop presence through out and a very crisp finish.

This is what I would think a original oktoberfest should be like, very rich in flavor. I could just imagine drinking this in a huge mug on the streets of Munich. (639 characters)